Calhoun, who ran against Mayor Kathy Sheehan last year as the Republican candidate for mayor, stars in the below music video set to the tune of the 1978 hit “Roxanne” by The Police.

Only Calhoun has swapped the lyrics to re-purpose it from a song about Parisian prostitutes to a protest song encouraging the mayor of the capital city not to install traffic cameras that Calhoun says violate residents’ right to due process.

Instead of “Roooox-anne, you don’t have to put on the red light Those days are over. You don’t have to sell your body to the night,” it’s “Shee-han, you don’t have to put up the red light (cameras). A cop must pull us over… You don’t have to sell the city for red lights.”

“You and Fahy’s minds are made up,” he sings, “But the people gonna stand up.”

While Casey is somewhat unimpressed with the lyrical adaptation, the video is actually pretty well done and incorporates an amusing cast of Albanians to sing, dance and otherwise spread the word.

The Reverb Nation page for Calhoun’s band, The Ameros, describes the group as “a rock, reggae, hip-hop, and funk powerhouse that combines thought-provoking lyrics, incendiary guitar, party vibes, and solid harmonies into a musical revolution.”

I know of a few people that have randomly gotten tickets in the mail saying they are being ticketed for not stopping at a stop light when they weren’t even in the area at the time. Guess who has to go through all the trouble to prove their innocence?

Hey,
Guys, Albany is not your private drag raceway. We who live here, in residential neighborhoods, are tired of watching cars traveling 40-45 mph into and out of our city, and ignoring every red light, in the process. If you feel otherwise, take your act to another town… thank you very much.

ps. I have already had one of my kids get hit by an ignoramus behind the wheel. Enough is enough.

@#1 Sherman K. Wisely says: “These cameras are now all over Long Island. In some intersections they actually cause more accidents”
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The reason is simple – people approaching the intersection when it turns yellow will slam on the brakes to avoid risking a ticket should the yellow time be questionable (localities love shaving off seconds from that, especially when there’s a lucrative camera on that light). The traffic behind them is unable to react in time, rear-ending the first car. In other intersections, the drivers would take the yellow and the last ones through clip the red. Only the most inattentive driver at the new green would start moving before the intersection clears itself naturally.

Jesse Calhoun gets it, as does uncivil. Can’t we ask a bigger question for a change? What kind of a city, what kind of a society do we want? If these, then what else? Speed sensors all along the roadways? On our way to what? Total, unbroken surveillance?

We are now a society that have cameras recording crime, they dont deter it just records it. Big brother is out of control! from NSA to now traffic lights, only a matter of time an alarm will go off when the toilet seat isnt down

The libs/Progressives have destroyed the city of Albany, Taxes are up, crime is up, graduation rates are down, housing vaules are down… Fahy is part of the problem lets get some fresh thinkers in Albany…

HawkNY: It’s not that there was an ignoramus behind the wheel of the car. It is the car itself that is to blame in your situation. Did you know some “street legal” cars have enough horsepower to excel to speeds in excess of 240 miles per hour? We need to close this loop-hole that allow these military-style vehicles on our streets that serve no other purpose other than to slaughter and maim. We need to ban all cars that can travel in excess of 65 miles per hour. After all, there is no place in New York where it is legal to drive in excess of 65 miles per hour. This is a reasonable restriction that isn’t up for debate – it is the only way…. the one true way. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – CLOSE THE AUTOMOBILE LOOPHOLE AND SAVE CHILDREN.

@hawkny, is that hyperbole and sarcasm? It sure sounds like it. “Ignoring every red light”, really? There is someone driving around ‘your city’ ignoring every red light. I suggest you get their license plate next time you encounter this red light bandit when the drag race breaks out in your neighborhood. This has nothing to do with safety. That old gag!

Hey hawkny, perhaps you (or the Mayor, or the APD) could explain to me why it is that we pay for a police force that is not enforcing the laws which they are sworn to uphold?

Some of the research shows that these cameras merely divert the problem drivers to other areas, once they learn where the cameras are (to say nothing of the increase in the occurrence of rear-end collisions).

Instead of trampling all over our rights to due process in the name of “traffic safety” (read: short-term revenue enhancers) perhaps we could just have the cops do their jobs? They had the added benefit of being easily redeployed, and maybe actually issuing more tickets once they pull somebody over (DWI, AUO, expired registration, etc.).

I want to see your kids safer too, our street is a major cut-through for an area hospital which sees a ridiculous amount of high-speed traffic. Despite my repeated pleas for increased enforcement from APD we get nothing.

But that doesn’t mean red light cameras are the solution, it just means that the Mayor actually needs to tell the APD to do their job. And if she’s incapable of doing that – perhaps we need a different Mayor…

Which lights, in particular, are you referring to ACS? I have driven Albany’s streets for decades. Except for driving east, on very sunny mornings in the winter months, I have never had trouble with Albany’s lights.

I welcome the cameras. Anyone that drives to Albany in the morning to Exit 23 or the South End on I-787 and then takes Slingerland over to Morton Ave has seen the issues. With Drivers driving West up Morton going through red lights just to gain one car length. IF drivers could be trained to pull out into intersection while waiting to complete a left turn it would also help. Just last week I was driving North on Main Ave. was stopped at the intersection with New Scotland. When the light changed, I hesitated before proceeding. Lucky I did, a Yellow truck came through the intersection heading North. I would have been broad sided if I had moved as soon as my light turned green.

An added benefit could be to for the police start writing J walking tickets for pedestrians that can’t walk another 10 feet to a crosswalk before stepping off the curb. At certain times of the day Lark Street and Central Ave is a pedestrian mine field. Where you have to decide if getting rear ended is worth it to prevent getting close to some idiot that came out between parked cars and just started walking across 4 lanes of traffic. Every time there is an accident, the pedestrians whine about aggressive drivers. May the cameras will document who is the real initiator of the trouble. Somehow pedestrians have decided that the NYS law that requires cars to stop for them in a crosswalk, means stop for them wherever the heck they decide to cross. I have seen peds look at the driver and step out in front expecting him to slam on his brakes.

Every light on Central and Western Avenues. Washington seems to be ok and so does Madison.
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BTW, didn’t mean to suggest I was a speed demond cause I’m not. But properly timed lights would enable those who follow the the speed limit to move along. And as someone who follows the speed limits our lights are begging for speeders.

@11. Sherman K. Wisely
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I love those souped up vehicles but doing 60 mph on a city street or in a residential area, anywhere, even for a short distance, is as dangerous to innocent bystanders as someone walking around with a loaded .38 stuck in their belt who “accidentally” stubs his/her toe.
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I don’t know if cameras on stop lights will make any difference but it is worth a try. It has never been done in Albany. Nothing else has worked thus far to slow drivers down on our main streets, and, it seems to me, there are 2-3 times as many cars on Albany’s byways as there were 25 years ago. BTW, I was hit by a car as a 7-year old and have suffered the effects of my injuries throughout my life. But that is another story.
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@14. Voice of Treason…..
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I cannot transcribe license plate numbers fast enough, especially when I am near upper Washington, Western and Central avenues. In the AM rush to work, and the 4-8 PM time slots, it is like Daytona Speedway on Memorial Day weekend on those streets. I wouldn’t try to cross nary a one during the rush hours, even in a crosswalk, like my kid did. One who does so takes their life into their own hands, as she found out.

@15 Anon….
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I am not an apologist for the mayor or APD’s chief. Their performances should be judged on the merits of the leadership they demonstrate, the commitment they make to improving the city, and the expertise they demonstrate while on the job. As for our present APD chief, Steve Krokoff, the city had a long string of inept political hacks in that post before he came along. Many say he is quite an improvement. At least he looks and sounds intelligent, and isn’t an Irish graduate of CBA and/or Siena College. That alone is a big change. :)

Neither is Mayor Sheehan whom I would assess to be the most academically prepared and intellectually capable mayor that we have had since Corning. She speaks more clearly, demonstrating logical thought processes, than either of her immediate predecessors. Can she cut the mustard as our most senior, public CEO and city political leader?
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We will see over the next couple of years whether she really has the fire in her belly to lead, make difficult decisions, and contend with the connivery of fellow Democrats (the old blue dogs) around her who have held sway for these past 70-80 years… Some of the old guard seems to hate her as much for her sex as they hate Obama for his skin color…. But you know how it goes…with that stuff. It is hard to teach old dogs new tricks.

Anon, APD has a $33,000,000 payroll and averages over $80,000/yr. in salary-per-man for all 310 members of the force. AFD, has a $19,000,000 payroll but I don’t know how many are employed. Their salaries are probably close to that of the police. The city as a whole has a $77,000,000 payroll for 1250 personnel. You can do the math, right? I think we are being bled to death, financially, in the name of public safety, thanks to PERB’s anti-city bias. And to think, they only have to ride around in a B & W for 20 years to get a “OT beefed up” 50% pension. And most don’t have a college degree! Nice.
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More than 80% of these uniformed employees live elsewhere besides the city too. The uniformed service budgets need to be cut, across the board, by 10%, to reduce our life draining, city operating deficit. Plus, all 1250 city employees, and the 1,000 or so school district employees we subsidize should be required to be residents of the city. Move in or move on, I say. New York is a “home rule” state so don’t tell me it cannot be done… if you have a mind to tell me that. Sheehan may have to fight for it but she can get residency on the books if she tries hard enough, long enough. I hope she does because it will help our city to recover in so many different, positive ways. Everything I have read about the subject says residency work to improve city finances and the quality of life everyone enjoys living an urbanized lifestyle.

@ 20. I-87

If we don’t try the cameras we will never know for sure, will we. You may be right, in the end, but you are not right at the moment. I have no valid claim to know either. So, lets just do it and see what happens. If it is a money grab, what can I say? Albany has a big budget hole to plug….”In the millions”, they say. Cameras won’t do it, alone, if at all. Oh, one final thought, Sheehan’s reputation for honesty is on the line here. She has played it pretty close to the vest thus far….keep that in mind as this proposal moves forward.

Welfare and a lack of morals and self respect destroyed Albany. I would venture to guess at this point there are more people living there that take from the system than there are that contribute. Such a shame. And yes this was caused by the Liberals and Progressives. No person should ever get anything they haven’t earned. If you have never contributed you should never receive.

If the police department was properly staffed they probably could do their jobs right. Its obvious they are understaffed by the amount of overtime paid each year. Overtime doesn’t add extra people it merely maintains minimum staffing which is the bare minimum number of officer per shift it takes to run the city. The city has always been this way. The city has enough officers to be reactive to crime. Its rare that they ever have enough other than the midnight shift to be proactive. With enough to be proactive you never solve or reduce anything unless you play with the numbers and use smoke and mirrors. Last I knew they has one officer assigned to specifically traffic per shift. This is also the accident investigator. So you tell me in a city that size how can he make any difference at all.

robby needs to gain a better understanding of what causes urban decay.

Blaming the poor for Albany’s current fiscal and infrastructural woes, whom are more likely than not to be tenants and not property owning landlords, is not only non-factual, but also morally corrupt. Perhaps a better reason might be a lack of charity in those property owners who collect rents from tenants and from the County and allow their properties to fall into disrepair before abandoning them. And many of those landlords are City residents, so not all poor housing issues are due to absentee landlords.

How can taxpayers of Albany ever forget some of the City’s more notorious landlords who took millions in welfare rents while neglecting to pay their due share of property taxes before abandoning their dilapidated properties, 50 at a time?

How very convenient to blame our City’s problems on the poorest and most politically weak members of our society. And to state that it’s due to the poor lacking morality?

Anyone who’s been paying the slightest bit of attention might be aware of the tremendous shift of wealth that’s been taking place over the past many years. The poor aren’t profiting, but are the victims of those who are.

Our capitol city is in the shape it is due to the historic neglect of our city leaders and those who profit from the plight of others.

Jim Travers needs to read what’s written and not just interpret statements to fit his argument. I never blamed the poor. Poor are people who try to succeed but still can’t make enough to survive. The poor generally have better morals than most others because they keep trying and never give up. I never said the poor lack morals or have destroyed society. The poor still contribute therefore they should receive help. I was referring the many non working, never have worked and never will work who like to label themselves as poor. These people are not poor, these people are lazy and morally corrupt, and make a living exploiting and taking advantage of the system. I would Smlabel the the landlords that scam the system the same way. Welfare and free handouts are what’s causing the decay you speak of. The last time I checked the poor could also vote Jim, so saying they are politically weak is incorrect. Just because something isn’t handed to you doesn’t mean you can’t ever have or obtain it with hard work. People are what they choose to be. Blaming others is easier than actually working for something. The government and the wealthy aren’t to blame and your only a victim if you want to be.